Month: March 2013

Social media is a way of life nowadays. A large chunk of a businesses’ advertisement budget is dedicated to their social marketing campaigns where they try to build a brand presence and gain a following. Companies hire the staff, outsource SEO, create online advertising campaigns, all to try and conquer social media.

You, as a job seeker, need to do the same as these companies. You need to think of yourself as a business, with a public image and try to create a brand of yourself to present to prospective employers. Spend time on your social profiles to get them up to scratch (and clean them up!)

Twitter and Hash tagging

Twitter is an excellent job seeking tool, if you know how to use it in this sense. If you are new to Twitter, check out the eGuide first for tips.

Hash tagging is the process of putting a hashtag (#) in front of a word or collection of words that has no space in it. It allows the user to allocate a category inside a Tweet that can be used by others to find that Tweet. For example:Now anyone on Twitter can click on #PHP /#devjobs / #ukjobs / #IT and they will be taken to a list of all the Tweets in the world that contain that specific hashtag. This is very powerful for a job seeker, as you can monitor popular hashtags, or hashtag yourselves with job seeking messages.

The top Hashtags for Job Seekers

I will split the hashtags up into categories, so that there is the general job seeking hashtags that you can use for any job, and then industry specific hashtags that one would use to target specific sectors.Also check out this article, Top 100+ Job Search Hashtags on Twitter. However bear in mind that it is very US centric and some of the hashtags will be irrelevant for the UK job market.

General Job Hashtags

#jobsearch#ukjobs#job and #jobs#jobhunt#careerchat#jobposting#jobhuntchat#recruiting#careers#careerchange#dreamjob#freelance#hiring#jobsearch(ing)#unemployed#needajob#jobposting#hirefriday#TweetMyJobs

These sample job interview questions have all been asked many times, and will be again.

Some of these questions are what you’d expect.

Some of these questions frankly don’t make much sense.

And some of these questions are shocking and possibly offensive.

But if any of these are going to be asked, you need to be ready.

The Most Commonly Asked Interview Questions

Questions 1-80 are about personal background.Questions 81-177 relate to work experience.Questions 178-234 cover your education or academic background.The rest are about your personality, motivations and thoughts on work.

Tell me about yourself.

What major challenges and problems did you face?

How would someone who dislikes you describe you?

What was your biggest failure?

What is your definition of failure?

What are your regrets?

What is your greatest weakness?

When was the last time you were angry? What happened?

If you could relive the last 10 years of your life, what would you do differently?

Tell me about a time when you helped resolve a dispute between others.

What are your goals?

What is your dream job?

What are three things your former manager would like you to improve on?

Tell me about an accomplishment you are most proud of.

Are you a leader or a follower?

What are some of your leadership experiences?

Why aren’t you earning more money at this stage of your career?

Who has inspired you in your life and why?

What techniques and tools do you use to keep yourself organized?

What is your personal mission statement? OR Give a one sentence statement of yourself.

What is your greatest achievement outside of work?

Tell me one thing about yourself you wouldn’t want me to know.

What is your favorite memory from childhood?

What two or three accomplishments have given you the most satisfaction? Why?

Applying for jobs is a challenging task, one made all the more difficult when you know your recruiter has dozens of other applicants to consider.

Instead of getting lost in the crowd, here are some things you can do to fast-track your resume to the front of a long queue:

Contact them first

Some recruiters and HR professionals appreciate you calling or emailing them before you submit your application. That way, they will be on the lookout for your application or, at the very least, your name will ring a bell when they see it. Be strategic with your timing, though; don’t call them at 5:00 p.m. on a Friday when they will be busy.

Follow up

You might not be able to get hold of them on the first attempt, or they might not respond to your first email. But it’s okay to follow up on your messages as long as you don’t do it too often. Waiting at least a week is usually recommended, but it depends on who you’re working with. Don’t think of following up as bothering the recruiter; think of it as showing how much of a go-getter you are.

Get the recruiter’s name right

Your ultimate aim here is to make a good impression, which won’t happen if you get their name wrong. Even if you’re looking at several different opportunities, make sure you know who you’re contacting each time and address that person appropriately.

Tailor your resume

Not tailoring your resume is usually a game-killer. If your resume isn’t tailored for a specific position, it looks like you didn’t care enough to put the time in. Make your resume relevant for the job you want and know the extra effort will benefit you later.

Lee Hecht Harrison research on hiring trends reveals that recruiters and hiring managers have found the effectiveness of social media in sourcing qualified candidates has increased 51% over the past two to three years, and they expect effectiveness to jump another 68% over the next two to three years.While LinkedIn is still the overwhelming favorite of HR managers and recruiters, Facebook is increasing in importance as an effective recruiting tool. Our research indicates that currently 16% of recruiters and 14% of HR managers are regularly using Facebook to source both passive and active job candidates – and it’s increasing. If you’re limiting your Facebook activity to friends and family, you might want to consider expanding activity to include professional connections – and possibly uncovering job opportunities.Here’s how to maximize your search success on Facebook:

Target your targets. Follow your target companies to uncover job openings and stay current on new company products, services, initiatives and acquisitions.

Follow the leaders. Follow pages from career-related organizations (such as LHH on Facebook) to have real-time access to employment trends and information.

Work smart. Follow search- and career-related sites such as Monster’s BeKnown and Glassdoor (voted the Best Employment Site of 2012).

Connect. Use the Facebook search feature to connect with people in your field or to join groups with a common interest.

Preparing for the job interview questions you might face has to be one of the more stressful aspects of changing jobs. Here we share insights you can put to work in your interview preparation right away.

What does your job interviewer want to uncover about you?

The starting point for success in responding to job interview questions is to understand why those questions are being asked. So what reassurances is your interviewer looking for during your interview?

– Can you do the job?– Are you someone who’d fit in and be a good addition to the team?– What risks are being taken by employing you?– Will you take the job?– What would be your motivations for taking the job?

Can you do the job?

Sounds obvious right? Yet unless you are moving between two competitors to perform the exact same role, your ability to do the job needs to be established. Your challenge in preparing to face job interview questions on this topic is to understand the job as thoroughly as you can.

Firstly this means revisiting the job advert and picking through the key requirements specified. Try to play detective and figure out why those criteria are important. What can you infer by reading between the lines? What contacts do you have who may be able to shed additional light on the role and the company? Have you researched the LinkedIn profiles of people in similar positions at the company, their descriptions of what they do – and their recommendations – may prove very telling. Who can you find who has recently left the company and who you could reach out to for insights?

What you’re most interested in identifying are i) the factors that are of greater or less importance than at your existing company (so that you know which strengths to play to in the interview) and ii) the differences that exist between you performing strongly in your current role and in this potential new role.

Examples would be there being greater political infighting to deal with; poor morale to contend with; different systems than you’re used to working with; different sales challenges to overcome; organisational challenges or deficiencies in capabilities that you’ll need to learn to work through.

In all respects that the role is similar to the one you already hold, your answers should pretty much take care of themselves. It’s the aspects that differ from what you’ve shown you can do that need to be bridged.

Are you someone who’d fit in and be a good addition to the team?

One key function of job interview questions – and the hiring process more generally – is to establish that there would be a good personality fit between you and the company. This takes two forms. Firstly companies have characters and an ethos that your earlier research may well have uncovered. It may be a very goal-focused business; innovative; focused on work-life balance… Whatever it is, you being a fit rather than a clash with that culture is a key hiring consideration.

Secondly – and no less important – you will be slotting into a team somewhere within the company. That team will have its own personality and traits that are a function of the existing team members. How you are likely to blend with them is another key consideration.

The topics so far are best addressed by doing your research before the job interview; and by asking as many questions as you can during the interview to fill in the gaps in your knowledge. As far as possible, you want to know the answer the interviewer would like to hear before you answer any question or show your hand.

What risks are being taken by employing you?

Everyone involved in the hiring decision is taking a risk with their careers by rubber-stamping you as the best person to hire. The candidate who looks best for the role may not always be the least risky hire. The most talented candidate may be likely to become dissatisfied in the role (and leave for greener pastures). They are more likely to be in the running for other openings and drop out of the recruiter’s interview process altogether. This explains why those willing to take a demotion and paycut to get back into work are often left frustrated. They’re considered overqualified precisely because they could become dissatisfied or receive a better offer once hired.

Similarly, those with inconsistencies in their application or unexplained developments in their careers can generate anxiety that undoes an otherwise strong performance. That’s why you need to think carefully about your shortcomings and how best to handle any anxieties these may cause. It’s better that you address these concerns directly than leave your interviewers to stew on them behind closed doors. And related to this point you also need to address…

Blanking on the recruiter’s name or forgetting to bring copies of your résumé may not endear you to a prospective employer.

However, you can take heart in the fact that your error wasn’t so horrible it will be remembered (and shared) for years to come.

Not all interviewees are so lucky.

Here are five job interview tales of awesomely awkward moments as told by the employers who were there:

1. Let me Finish this Game

While most candidates are ready to move mountains to please an interviewer, some are not so willing to accommodate. Ann M. Larson, managing partner for The Interview Experience, flew from New York to Los Angeles to conduct an interview, only to have the applicant ask her to stand there and wait in the hotel lobby so that she could finish the game of solitaire she was playing since it looked like she was going to win.

“I politely told her that I had a very busy agenda and that I didn’t really have the time to watch her play a card game,” Larson says. “The interview was short and awkward. I remember flying home thinking, ‘Thanks for taking a day of my life that I’ll never get back.’”

2. Never Let Them See You (or Your Hair) Sweat

Executive recruiter and career counselor Bruce Hurwitz was delighted to find an applicant that seemed perfect for one of his clients. The fact that the man was bald wasn’t an issue, until he showed up for the interview having used “hair-in-a-can” to paint his head black.

“It was a warm day,” Hurwitz remembers. “As the interview progressed, he started to perspire. The paint started to run down his forehead — not a lot, maybe a quarter of an inch. I did not laugh even though I thought I was going to do myself personal injury by keeping it in!” At interview’s end, Hurwitz told the man he wanted to submit him to the client but couldn’t because of his “hair.”

3. Putting Your Assets on Display

Shara Senderoff, co-founder and CEO of Intern Sushi, was none too happy when she entered the lobby to greet an interviewee and discovered the young lady was wearing a mini-skirt and an extremely transparent shirt.

Senderoff gave her an appalled look.

“She clearly noticed my disgust and apologized profusely as she thought she was interviewing with a guy because my male assistant was scheduling the interview time with her,” she recalls. “Instead of focusing on her intelligence or the skills she could bring to the table, she thought a push-up lace bra would seal the deal.”